Meetings III
by Arisuke
Summary: A continuation story from my two previous Starcraft works. This story is basically can be read as a stand alone, but I strongly suggest reading Meetings and Meeting II first as to understand what is going on in this story.


Starcraft

Meetings 3

The Rear Admiral was sitting in his quarters, reading a report of the progress of the 'Intergalactic War', as his men had called it.

Under the leadership of the former human, the Zerg Swarm was about to start their counterattack on the Expeditionary Fleet, with their allies. He found it hard to believe that she managed to get her 3 biggest enemies into joining with her in the fight against the UED.

She was definitely a force to be reckoned with, but somehow he felt that she was too proud for her own good. It was hard to beat her of course, but not utterly impossible, just like the previous Overmind.

According to the report from High Senses, the unlikely group had begun rallying just outside of Braxis' system. The main questions now were: when will they attack DuGalle and should the Rear Admiral even risk the exposure to tell DuGalle about the alliance's imminent attack? The Rear Admiral felt so uneasy about these questions, but his supplementary orders specifically require him not to tell anybody of the existence of the base and its employees under the penalty of death.

He then came to realize of the possibility that the Expeditionary Fleet would never survive this attack. Even if it does, their presence in this sector would decrease dramatically. When the UED fleet first came here, he wondered if his government was really serious in dealing with the situation. Based on all the information he had gathered for this fleet, the Rear Admiral was really expecting a full fleet, but instead, a skeleton form just enough to make a slight dent in everyone's armour.

However, true to his performance, DuGalle had performed greatly in increasing his forces and dealing with the 2 aliens and the colonies, but along with not so serious mistakes. The biggest mistakes DuGalle had made though was not listening to his childhood friend and worse, had the friend killed based on a traitor's reason. And the thing was those mistakes had already turned against DuGalle. He just hoped that the consequences won't be so bad.

It wasn't all that hard to decide to tell the 'secret council' about this recent event and also to get some response on how to proceed on this situation. Fortunately, he had ordered 1 of his High Senses Ghosts to infiltrate the Expeditionary Fleet and made a copy of the Psi Disrupter's blueprint soon after DuGalle's victory. Since then, the Rear Admiral had been keeping it in this base's own databank. Well it was about time to call them, but not before he double checked the blueprint.

* * *

It had been 2 hours since the call, yet still no response. By now, he was sure that the unlikely alliance had finished gathering their forces. He also knew that the UED central command hadn't called DuGalle to give him further instructions after accomplishing the objectives. Knowing all these, he was beginning to feel DuGalle's role was actually different from what the Rear Admiral was led to believe in.

_If that was the case, what was DuGalle's actual role in all of this? Was it possible that DuGalle was an experimental tool to be used on this sector's major residents? A disturbing thought._ The Rear Admiral looked at his watch, activated his communication to his adjutant and organized a meeting with his 3 commanders. He closed his file and left.

23 minutes later, the civilian hunter was the last person to come in.

"According to your reports, captain," said the Rear Admiral to the Ghost, "the residents of this sector had rallied outside Braxis' system, bound to attack the Psi Disrupter at any moment. What I want now is to prepare for the worse if DuGalle were to be defeated by this alliance. I want all non-essential equipment to be packed right now and everyone on standby to wrap things up. Evacuation could be the only thing that can save our secret existence here."

"Why? No one knows that we exist here," said the doctor.

"True, but we must take in the possibility that if the Zerg wins, it will scour this sector like no other to expand the swarm. Her allies would be the first to fall before her wake."

"I want to believe you, Admiral, but I don't think we are in an immediate danger."

"What made you think that, captain?" asked the man to the Ghost.

"If she were to get rid of DuGalle and her own allies, it will weaken her swarm doing it, which in turn forces her to recuperate for some time. We could take advantage of this period to gather more information on everyone."

"Good point, but all this while the Zerg never really recuperate. Unless, she plans on something big. Still, there is no harm in getting prepared though."

"Did we get any clearance about doing all this?" asked the Hunter.

"I already told the ruling council about it, but they haven't reply yet."

"How long do we need to stay here?" asked the Hunter.

"As long as it takes. I know that your job is practically done here, but until they say otherwise, there is nothing we can do."

"I've already lost half of my hunters capturing a lot of Zerg and Protoss specimens. The UED should at least replenish our numbers if they still want more of them."

A sudden clarification came to the Rear Admiral that DuGalle really was an experimental tool and the UED inaction was proof of this. Working with scientists for this long made him realized that everything had been set for an experiment. He knew that when an experiment was started, the scientists involved would wait, doing nothing at all, until the result presented itself.

_The UED was doing the same thing on a larger scale_, thought the man, _but are we an experimental tool too? _His mind was completely blank on what the hunters should do but the only option now was to wait.

"All we can do right now is to brave through the storm," said the Rear Admiral, _Like what the UED doing right now._

He dismissed the meeting, which lasted for 40 minutes, even though it normally lasted for an hour.

The commander was sitting in his quarters, thinking on what he should do next. But frankly, he doesn't know what to do at all.

The communicator suddenly chirped and he looked at it. A blue light was blinking, which meant it was a secure line. He knew who was calling, thus quickly putting away a picture frame that was covering a blue button and pressed it. His quarters suddenly made sounds of being sealed. A small section of his table opened and a short tube came out. It let out a force field that covered the entire room. After it had confirmed of being secured, he opened the link and immediately saw a hologram screen showing an old man, which he recognized as the General from the "secret council".

"Admiral, I've read your report about the alliance of the 3 enemies. How long do you think this alliance can last?"

"As long as it takes, I guess. But I don't think it will last that long either, seeing as how treacherous Kerrigan is."

There was a pause, "Do you think DuGalle could win this fight?"

"Only if the UED send him reinforcements."

"DuGalle is more than capable in defending himself, Admiral. I'm sure you know that."

"General, if you want a strong UED presence in this sector, I suggest rein..." before the man could finish his sentence, he was cut off.

"I already have you there, Admiral, in which your presence is very strong."

"Is that permission for us to operate openly, sir? If that so, do you allow us to link up with DuGalle?"

"No, that is not what I meant, Admiral. Your intelligence network is the only thing that stands between us and those aliens. Your work for the past year had helped us tremendously, including the Expeditionary Fleet. Your network had kept us safe, and I want you to maintain the good work."

"What about DuGalle? He certainly need some help in dealing with the alliance."

"He already had all the help he can ever receive for an Admiral of his calibre, Rear Admiral. And no one can ever help him out of his situation except himself."

"Sir, is DuGalle an experimental tool?"

There was a drastic change on his face, together with a tint of red. "What the UED does with its resources is none of your concern, Rear Admiral. If you don't like the answer, then don't ask any more questions. I suggest to you, Admiral that you stick to your supplementary orders. I certainly hope that you still remember its contents."

"I still remember, General."

"Good. General, out." With that said, the screen disappeared.

_DuGalle WAS an experimental tool, that for certain,_ thought the man, _just what kind of result do they want from all of this? _He shook his head in disgust and the pressed the blue button, deactivating the security perimeters.


End file.
